One woman's foray into cooking for herself, for her family, and for her friends. It's not always picture-perfect, sometimes a little messy,but it's always delicious. Join me in exploring new recipes, savoring the "résultats" and learning from the "erreurs".

Friday, November 12, 2010

I love pizza. I love a good NY-style pizza. I love deep dish Chicago-style pizza. I'll even settle for mediocre delivery on a rare occasion. But my real love for pizza lies within my own kitchen. The crust can be thin. Or not. If I'm making pizza for a crowd, I'll bake them in pans. If I'm making pizza just for myself (or 1 or 2 additional people), I'll use the baking stone that permanently resides in my oven. I like that I can top it with whatever strikes my fancy. When I add vegetables to my pizzas, I usually like to saute or grill them first: sauteed onions and mushrooms, grilled eggplant or grilled zucchini. Or thinly sliced potatoes. Or pepperoni, browned sausage, olives, hot peppers or sweet peppers. With sauce, without sauce. Or white pizza - I love white pizza. Round, rectangular, big, small. *sigh* I love pizza.

My pizza this time was going to be a smaller-than-usual pizza. I roasted a head of garlic. (Cut the top 1/4 of the head of garlic off, drizzle olive oil over the decapitated garlic and sprinkle with salt pepper. Wrap tightly in double layered foil and throw in a hot oven (450F.) for about 40 - 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and open the foil. Let cool until comfortable enough to handle. Squeeze the garlic out of its paper. This is wonderful in mashed potatoes or spread over crostini.) After pressing the dough out into a rectangle, I spread the roasted garlic over the dough, sprinkled shredded mozzarella over that, layered halved grape tomatoes over the cheese, and then strewed very thinly sliced red onion over the tomatoes. A little salt, a little freshly ground black pepper, and a tiny drizzle of olive oil, and then into a hot oven (500F.) onto the baking stone for 15 minutes. Oh my. Delicious.

I haven't made a pizza in ages..... maybe this week.... the cheese is such a killer (literally) ... for those of us with inherited damn cholesterol problems.... oh that we could sort out our genes and keep only the ones we want....

maybe this week..... I'll allow myself a bit of cheese.... I could always have just one slice....NOT.....